I've heard that in many places in the States, the driving test is nowhere near as rigorous as the UK one.

What I've heard, on the other side of the pond, is that everywhere in the UK, the driving test is much more difficult than anywhere in the US.

My cousin, who lived in the UK for 10 years, and had been a licensed driver in the US for 20 years before moving there, studied and took lessons for three months before getting her license in the UK. And it wasn't just driving on the other side of the road that caused her difficulties--the UK test simply covers more things than the average US driving test.

I've heard that in many places in the States, the driving test is nowhere near as rigorous as the UK one.

What I've heard, on the other side of the pond, is that everywhere in the UK, the driving test is much more difficult than anywhere in the US.

My cousin, who lived in the UK for 10 years, and had been a licensed driver in the US for 20 years before moving there, studied and took lessons for three months before getting her license in the UK. And it wasn't just driving on the other side of the road that caused her difficulties--the UK test simply covers more things than the average US driving test.

The test can vary regionally, too, within the same Province, in Canada. A cousin of mine lived in Big City. He took his test and failed. Then they moved to the cottage 2.5 hours away for the summer. He retook his test in Small Town and passed, no problem.

Logged

After cleaning out my Dad's house, I have this advice: If you haven't used it in a year, throw it out!!!!.

"That sounds like terrible instruction. In the event of a rear end collision all the force of the accident would be transferred up your leg into your hips and pelvis with your foot on the brake like that. Still, I guess they maybe weren't as aware of these things in the 70s."

I don't follow your logic here. If you have your foot on your brake pedal and you're struck from behind, the car will tend to lurch forward, moving itself and the pedal away from you, not toward you. More importantly, unless you're sitting such that you can lock your knee while pressing the pedal (and if you are, you're way too far from the pedals to drive safely), no impact of any kind will transfer up your leg to your hip because your knee will bend.

On that subject, my own "this might be a stupid question, but": Why do so many people in America learn to drive from their parents rather than using a qualified driving instructor? It seems to me like parents would simply pass their bad habits on to the kids. I've always wondered this when reading threads about terrible drivers.

I get the impression that 'Drivers' Ed' is class based.

Driver's Ed is expensive. Some people pony up the money anyway, since some insurance companies will give you a break on new driver insurance if you have it. And some schools offer slightly cheaper classes to their students.

But a lot of teens figure they can drive just fine, so they don't need it, right? And the parents also figure they are good drivers, so they can teach their teens just fine, right? And thus the Special Snowflakery is passed down to the next generation.

In California, youmust take a driver's training course to get your license, at least if you're under 18. The DMV requires 30 hours of in-class training as well as 6 hours on the road. My sons are taking it through the AAA and I've opted to add an extra 4 hours of in-car instruction, which will include night driving, freeway driving and the use of anti-lock brakes. Yes, it's $$$ but these are my only sons and I know that I don't have the patience or skill to teach them myself. I will teach them to drive a manual transmission once they've got the basics of driving down. Some schools offer driver's ed, but that is one of the things that gets cut early on in a budget crisis.

Before the boys can get their actual licenses, they will also have to wait 6 months and complete 50 hours of in-car practice with a licensed adult sitting next to them. Even after that, for the next full year, they can't drive any passengers under 20 or between 11PM and 5AM unless there is an adult in the car as well (there are exceptions for medical necessity, job, etc.)

On putting the car into neutral at a stop: I was taught that it was a bad idea because it makes it easier for you to be pushed into an intersection if you're rear-ended. Having the car in gear means that the engine's inertia will keep you from moving as far.

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Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bow lines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. -Mark Twain

"That sounds like terrible instruction. In the event of a rear end collision all the force of the accident would be transferred up your leg into your hips and pelvis with your foot on the brake like that. Still, I guess they maybe weren't as aware of these things in the 70s."

I don't follow your logic here. If you have your foot on your brake pedal and you're struck from behind, the car will tend to lurch forward, moving itself and the pedal away from you, not toward you. More importantly, unless you're sitting such that you can lock your knee while pressing the pedal (and if you are, you're way too far from the pedals to drive safely), no impact of any kind will transfer up your leg to your hip because your knee will bend.

Virg

Virg, the car will go forward and so will you when you're struck from behind. The seat is connected to the car and you're in the seat. Your body is thus not independent from the car. I don't know about the energy transfer up the leg because I think we're all imagining that part a little differently.

On that subject, my own "this might be a stupid question, but": Why do so many people in America learn to drive from their parents rather than using a qualified driving instructor? It seems to me like parents would simply pass their bad habits on to the kids. I've always wondered this when reading threads about terrible drivers.

I get the impression that 'Drivers' Ed' is class based.

Driver's Ed is expensive. Some people pony up the money anyway, since some insurance companies will give you a break on new driver insurance if you have it. And some schools offer slightly cheaper classes to their students.

But a lot of teens figure they can drive just fine, so they don't need it, right? And the parents also figure they are good drivers, so they can teach their teens just fine, right? And thus the Special Snowflakery is passed down to the next generation.

In California, youmust take a driver's training course to get your license, at least if you're under 18. The DMV requires 30 hours of in-class training as well as 6 hours on the road. My sons are taking it through the AAA and I've opted to add an extra 4 hours of in-car instruction, which will include night driving, freeway driving and the use of anti-lock brakes. Yes, it's $$$ but these are my only sons and I know that I don't have the patience or skill to teach them myself. I will teach them to drive a manual transmission once they've got the basics of driving down. Some schools offer driver's ed, but that is one of the things that gets cut early on in a budget crisis.

Before the boys can get their actual licenses, they will also have to wait 6 months and complete 50 hours of in-car practice with a licensed adult sitting next to them. Even after that, for the next full year, they can't drive any passengers under 20 or between 11PM and 5AM unless there is an adult in the car as well (there are exceptions for medical necessity, job, etc.)

On putting the car into neutral at a stop: I was taught that it was a bad idea because it makes it easier for you to be pushed into an intersection if you're rear-ended. Having the car in gear means that the engine's inertia will keep you from moving as far.

Illinois laws are the same. Proof of passing a qualified drivers training course must be submitted at the time when you apply for your license.

Stupid because I've had my Nook for almost a year and I should know the answer (but I prefer to buy instead of borrow.) I've looked at the B&N website and can't find out how to do this.

How do you borrow books from the library on your Nook?

Does it have to be a local library?

I'm thinking about getting a Nook for my mother for Xmas and she lives in very-small-town-USA. Does her town library need to have this function available (unlikely) or can she borrow books from any library?

Overdrive is the "big" e-book lending library. If your mom's library is smaller, it might belong to a co-op that does Overdrive or another e-book lender.

If you want to PM me her library, I can look it up using a couple different sources.

(Reference librarian here, so I deal with e-books on a regular basis.)

I could never get Overdrive to work on my PC, but it worked like a charm on my iPad. It is so awesome to have books freely and magically appear on your ipad to read!

Stupid because I've had my Nook for almost a year and I should know the answer (but I prefer to buy instead of borrow.) I've looked at the B&N website and can't find out how to do this.

How do you borrow books from the library on your Nook?

Does it have to be a local library?

I'm thinking about getting a Nook for my mother for Xmas and she lives in very-small-town-USA. Does her town library need to have this function available (unlikely) or can she borrow books from any library?

Overdrive is the "big" e-book lending library. If your mom's library is smaller, it might belong to a co-op that does Overdrive or another e-book lender.

If you want to PM me her library, I can look it up using a couple different sources.

(Reference librarian here, so I deal with e-books on a regular basis.)

I could never get Overdrive to work on my PC, but it worked like a charm on my iPad. It is so awesome to have books freely and magically appear on your ipad to read!

I started reading the first quote on this reply and thought "Oh. Good. More info. I posted something like that a while ago . . . Oh. Wait! That's ME!

Just thought I'd give an update: My mother is sooo tickled pink with her nook. It seems that there was a bit of a problem loading the Overdrive on her PC, but working with her library they got the problem solved (I don't know the details.)

So you use an ipad instead of a nook tablet to borrow books from the library?

"Virg, the car will go forward and so will you when you're struck from behind. The seat is connected to the car and you're in the seat. Your body is thus not independent from the car. I don't know about the energy transfer up the leg because I think we're all imagining that part a little differently."

Your body is indeed independent from the car at the moment of impact. The separation of you and the car is what makes pressing the brake non-dangerous. When the car is struck from behind, it begins moving forward, but your body doesn't start moving with it until your standing intertia is absorbed by the seat cushion, which is compressed as it presses against you. During that time, the brake pedal is moving away from you, and then your body accelerates to match, but you're not firmly in contact with the pedal so there's no opportunity for the impact energy to transfer "up your leg" in any way. Unless you're hit from behind with a substantial amount of energy, the whole thing will be over before you meet up with the bottom range of the brake pedal anyway. The only way the energy of an impact could be delivered through a foot pedal to your hips is if you were bearing the pedal down as hard as possible with a locked knee and the car was struck from the front.

artk2002 wrote:

"On putting the car into neutral at a stop: I was taught that it was a bad idea because it makes it easier for you to be pushed into an intersection if you're rear-ended. Having the car in gear means that the engine's inertia will keep you from moving as far."

If your foot is on the brake, then the engine drag is extremely minimal because the brakes exert thousands of times more stop load than any transmission. Any impact capable of overwhelming the brakes will drive the car forward in a skid anyway since any car that can't exert more stopping power on its wheels than the tires exert on the road would be extremely unsafe to drive (antilock brakes exist specifically because brakes can easily stop the tires before the tires can stop the car). If you're at a dead stop and you've got your foot firmly on the brake, you're providing all the stopping power your car is going to offer no matter what you're doing with the engine, and a collision sufficient to make engine braking relevant will destroy the back end of the car and the transmission as well.

On that subject, my own "this might be a stupid question, but": Why do so many people in America learn to drive from their parents rather than using a qualified driving instructor? It seems to me like parents would simply pass their bad habits on to the kids. I've always wondered this when reading threads about terrible drivers.

I get the impression that 'Drivers' Ed' is class based.

Driver's Ed is expensive. Some people pony up the money anyway, since some insurance companies will give you a break on new driver insurance if you have it. And some schools offer slightly cheaper classes to their students.

But a lot of teens figure they can drive just fine, so they don't need it, right? And the parents also figure they are good drivers, so they can teach their teens just fine, right? And thus the Special Snowflakery is passed down to the next generation.

My mother was taught to drive by her Dad and her brothers, who were all sure they were great drivers. She didn't have the greatest driving record - not terrible, but there were a couple of occasions of reversing into other drivers (carpark incidents etc). When my brother and I learnt to drive we were living in a different country where there was a cool insurance scheme whereby ALL new learner drivers got 12 paid professional driving lessons for free, and in exchange got their license 6 months faster than it would usually take - so pretty much win-win! We both took the professional lessons.

Cue the next time we're in the car with my mother, she changes lanes, we both exclaim "Mum! You didn't check over your shoulder!" .... yep, turns out her Dad and brothers somehow missed that step. She thought she could rely on mirrors. Explains all of those minor accidents from when we were kids. (Which again, while not terrible, were still extremely stressful childhood memories. She had to go to court for one of them and it was quite upsetting for us!)

My point is that I agree completely - training should be from professionals, because they can ensure the correct items are all 'ticked off' and covered, rather than just a general feel for whether the person is driving ok or not.

Our kids in Washington state can't get their license until they've taken and passed a DE course. They aren't cheap, but neither is driving a car. If you can't afford the class, how are you going to pay for a car, gas, and insurance?

Our kids in Washington state can't get their license until they've taken and passed a DE course. They aren't cheap, but neither is driving a car. If you can't afford the class, how are you going to pay for a car, gas, and insurance?

I know where you're coming from, but I always find that logic quite odd to be honest.

Money is a finite resource, so most people I know would be more likely to think "If I do pay for the class, I won't have enough money for a car, gas and insurance, I'll save money by getting lessons from family". Having money for 1 thing actually means less money for everything else.

Our kids in Washington state can't get their license until they've taken and passed a DE course. They aren't cheap, but neither is driving a car. If you can't afford the class, how are you going to pay for a car, gas, and insurance?

I know where you're coming from, but I always find that logic quite odd to be honest.

Money is a finite resource, so most people I know would be more likely to think "If I do pay for the class, I won't have enough money for a car, gas and insurance, I'll save money by getting lessons from family". Having money for 1 thing actually means less money for everything else.

I see it like this. Cars and driving cost money, starting with Driver's Ed. If you can't afford the required class, how are you going to pay for the rest of it? It's like deciding you're going to buy a car, but skip the insurance. I know some people DO that, but it's not smart.